Wednesday, April 20, 2011

"God Gave Us You" by, Lisa Tawn Bergren is an adorable children's book that is beautifully illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. This book is about a bear family with a young, inquisitive cub. Little cub asks her mother where she came from? Mama bear responds by telling her that she was given to them by God. This book follows the little bear's other "why" questions and her mom reassures her every time that she is loved and that God gave her to her parents.

I have read one other book by Lisa Tawn Bergren called, “God Gave Us So Much,” and had enjoyed it so I was very excited to get to read another. This was a cute children's book and I will be reading it to my daughter a lot as she continues to get older and asking questions. I absolutely love the message that the mother bear reiterates over and over, "God gave us you." It follows the path from conception to birth with the perfect words for a young child. I would recommend this book to any parent that has a young child. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review through Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I just finished reading Andy Andrews book entitled “The Final Summit”. This book is about finding out the one answer that will help to save all of humanity. With the sand of time slowly running out, a man named David Ponder is summoned to help in answering a question along with other “Travelers” from history. In this book you learn new insight into true happenings of some famous and should-have-been famous people in history. The end message will inspire and motivate you in your own life.

This was a great book and left me wanting to know more. I must admit that this is the first of Andy Andrew’s books that I have read and want to go back and read the other two books that preceded this one just so I can find out more about David Ponder and what happened to him before this book. Although I hadn’t read the previous books, I didn’t feel that I lacked the ability to comprehend this book; it was its own unique storyline and lent itself to being read by itself, although I am sure that I still would have gotten even more out of it if I had gone in knowing the back story behind David Ponder. This book was a very quick read and when I got to the end I was a bit sad that I couldn’t find out how David Ponder used this answer to help the world; I really hope that there is a sequel to this book.

I almost didn’t read this book because I was unsure if it was a self-help book, historical novel, business book, fiction book, etc. but am so glad that I did. I learned a lot about history as well as it being inspirational and a great fiction novel. All-in-all I would recommend this to anyone because it has something in it for any type of reader. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review through the publishers at BookSneeze.com.

I just finished reading the book “How To Be God’s Little Princess”, by Sheila Walsh. This is a how-to book designed most likely for lower elementary age girls and discusses the topics of how to dress like a princess, wear a tiara, be poised, be a good friend, have table manners, groom yourself, party, be media savvy, be polite, address behavior at home, be a good sport, and knowing if you need an inner beauty makeover. It contains quizzes and craft ideas along with small written discussions.

This book was a lot different than I had expected it to be. I was not very impressed and felt that a lot of the focus was on the appropriate look of a princess instead of the focus being on God. I did however like the concept of the book because it is important for everyone to know that no matter what that they are always God’s princess. My daughter is only one year old right now so maybe I am just not able to see its relevancy until she is older and we are in the “princess” phase of life. I think that the chapters that I had the most difficult time reading and relating it to a biblical message were those that were about princess attire and beauty, the outward view of oneself. The first few chapters seemed to be focused a lot on this outward appearance and didn’t seem to put God into the picture thoroughly enough. I did however begin to like the book more towards the end chapters when it began to discuss good character traits instead of fashion.

All-in-all I would probably only recommend this book to a parent that has a young elementary daughter that is obsessed with princesses and is struggling with her ability to lover herself or love others. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review through the publishers at BookSneeze.com.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I just finished reading “When Sparrows Fall” by Meg Moseley. This book is about a mother, Miranda Handord, whose husband died two years earlier and is now raising and home schooling six children by guidelines that she doesn’t fully believe in. After Miranda takes a serious dive off of a cliff her brother-in-law, Jack Hanford, comes to take temporary custody of the children until Miranda recovers. Jack knows not a thing about the family, having only met them once before his brother had died. Jack realizes that the church that Miranda and her children attend is very restrictive and dictated by their pastor Mason Chandler. The strict ideals of what the family should and shouldn’t wear, eat, and the rules that they should adhere to aren’t something that Jack is accustomed to and seeks to change their ways of life and break Miranda and the children free from Mason Chandler’s reign.

This book was wonderful. It had a sense of mystery the whole way through the book where you knew some of the story behind each of the characters but were surprised to learn deeper seeded truths about each. The book was wonderfully written and was one that I didn’t want to put down. It allowed me to see a little more into the difficulties that the women and children face when in a cult-like church and how hard it would be to get out of a situation like that. I absolutely loved this book and will look forward to reading any future books that Meg Moseley authors. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review through Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.